Diligence. That’s what drives the team at Ferme 7 Terres in Saint-Sévère, Mauricie. And as the dairy farm’s co-owner, Philippe Lacerte expects no less from Mathieu Champagne, his ruminant agri-advisor at Novago Coopérative.

“I come to this farm often, and every time, I see somebody cleaning!” Mathieu says with a laugh.

At Ferme Janoel, agri-advisor Samuel Pelletier and dairy farmer Keven Malenfant are working together to get the farm up to 2 kg of butterfat per cow per day—without adding stalls. They’re sure they can do it, and they know attention to detail is key.

Ferme Janoel is a tie-stall dairy farm in Saint-Arsène in the Bas-Saint-Laurent. Keven Malenfant took it over from his father in 2013, with a modest quota of 42 kg. Many investments later, he’s proud to let the numbers speak for themselves:

• 140 kg quota

Camille Beauchemin and Dany Courchesne have only been working together at Ferme N.C.L. for a few months, but they were teammates long before that—on a dek hockey team. Now, they’re aiming for a new kind of goal: top herd performance.

Dany took up the farming lifestyle in 2017, after his father, Normand, decided to hang up his skates—or at least slow down. Today, Dany owns 50% of the company’s shares and is in charge of dairy, while his father tends to the fields.

“What I like most about Marie‑Pier is that you can tell she’s working for us, for our farm.” That’s what farmer Alexandre Vermette has to say about Marie‑Pier Coulombe, his Agiska Coopérative crop agri‑advisor. What they’ve built is much more than a simple business relationship—it’s a real partnership.

Egg farmer Samuel Lanctôt of Ferme Bec-O Lanctôt and agri‑advisor Béatrice Hamel of Sollio & Vivaco Agriculture coopérative see themselves as a ship’s crew, scanning for waves before they hit.

“Samuel’s the captain. And I’m the one in the crow’s nest, eyes on the horizon,” says Béatrice. For both Samuel and Béatrice, having a successful layer farm is about observing the birds and sweating the details. “We’re proactive,” adds Samuel. “We try to solve problems before they come up.”

Jean-Michel makes no secret of his caring side. In his 28 years as a manager, his warm approach and sincere desire to help have consistently made an impression on those around him. He comes from a family of poultry farmers, and his work has always been closely linked to agriculture and nature. 

Dairy farmer Mikael Breton and his Sollio & Avantis Agriculture Coopérative agri‑advisor, Caroline Jacques, have a strong trust‑based relationship infused with a healthy dose of humour. Farm performance is no laughing matter, but that doesn’t mean the business partners can’t crack a good joke or two (or three).

“It’s only because Mikael loves it so much,” says Caroline with a smile. Mikael nods in agreement. “Well, it’s also because you’re so... spontaneous and... nice,” he adds, laughing at his own hesitation.

Through its corporate responsibility process, Sollio Agriculture has developed several tools to help farmers adopt agricultural practices that are more sustainable and just as profitable. Here are our top five wins of the past year.

1) Inaugurating the CRF AgriTech plant

The CRF AgriTech plant in St. Thomas, Ontario, produces controlled‑release fertilizers (CRF).

Despite her 35 years with Sollio Agriculture, Chantal Lecavalier still speaks as passionately as ever about her job. Having worked to raise awareness of Sollio Agriculture’s mission in the industry, she now wants future generations to discover the cooperative movement so that they can find a job that they love. 

Virginie Barbeau does a lot: training for running, cycling and swimming, pursuing continuing education, visiting sites, managing several projects at once. You’d need a ton of energy to keep up. Rigorous, disciplined and, above all, hungry for knowledge, this communications expert builds her career like an athlete. 

In 2023, after several years as a senior communications advisor, Virginie became Sollio Agriculture’s corporate responsibility communications lead.